Sister City Program - Lancieux, France

2018 marks the 18th Anniversary of the Program!

Whitehorse, Yukon and Lancieux, France began a Sister City program in 2000. The two cities honour their friendship by flying the flag of their Sister City once each year.

2018

The City of Whitehorse and the Association franco-yukonnaise (AFY) would like to invite you to celebrate the friendship between the cities of Whitehorse and Lancieux, the two communities which the poet Robert W. Service chose to call home.

Lancieux held a special place in this poet's heart, who made it his Sweet Home. Although this seaside town appears vastly different from Whitehorse, Robert W. Service found it equally inspiring. His love of Whitehorse and Lancieux is what continues to bring together these two cities.

Thursday, September 13, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
A ceremony at Whitehorse City Hall with light refreshments, followed by the raising of the Lancieux flag (2121 Second Avenue).

A Short History about Becoming Sister Cities

In 2000, AFY agreed to carry out a project to establish ties between Lancieux, in France, and Whitehorse, in the Yukon, two adoptive lands of the "Bard of the Yukon", Robert W. Service. In order to make the pairing of the two cities official, a delegation of French-speaking youth from the Yukon brought a proclamation to France and read it in both official languages during a signing ceremony.

To this day, Whitehorse and Lancieux still honour this bond and proudly fly the flag of their sister city once a year to mark their friendship.
Robert William Service is a British poet who is especially well-known for his works about Canada. He was born January 16, 1874, in Preston and passed away September 11, 1958, in Lancieux.

Previous Years

Check out our special Anniversary messages to Lancieux, August 2015 (partly in French).

Merci a l'Association franco-yukonnaise!

The flag raising ceremony was followed by a celebration and reception.

Mayor Curtis at the Lancieux Flag Raising ceremony, 2014

These two cities are connected through the life and work of poet Robert W. Service, a British poet especially renowned for his writings about Northern Canada. After leaving the Yukon in 1912, Service moved to France and bought a cabin in Lancieux. It is the great affection he had for these towns that still brings the sister cities of Whitehorse and Lancieux together today.

Lancieux and Whitehorse have organized several youth exchanges since 2000, when a delegation of Yukon Francophone youth read the proclamation in both official languages at the signing ceremony in Lancieux.